{"id":467,"date":"2017-03-29T18:47:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T02:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/?p=467"},"modified":"2017-03-29T19:43:18","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T03:43:18","slug":"convening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/2017\/03\/convening.html","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Convening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"2017-paganicon3\"A few blog posts back, <\/a>I talked about my lack of confidence in the idea of covens \u2013 in a historical sense. \u00a0But I did express my belief in the convening of witches to come together, share ideas and concepts, gossip, tricks, and the usual \u2013 then everyone went back to their respective corners.<\/p>\n

And I think it\u2019s even more important right now \u2013 for us to gather together despite different paths and talk.<\/p>\n

Hence why you may have found me at one or more of 3 different Pword conventions happening over the last 4 weeks: PantheaCon<\/a>, ConVocation<\/a>, and Paganicon<\/a>. If you look at the first two links, you\u2019ll see a round-up of experiences \u2013 but I\u2019ve been a bit delinquent about recapping Paganicon. \u00a0Not for any nefarious reason, though I was tempted to just repost the link to Jason Mankey\u2019s recap<\/a>. Because he took a lot more photos than I managed to, especially of me! LOL!<\/p>\n

\"2017-paganicon1\"I really adore Paganicon<\/a> \u2013 it\u2019s a great event all around. \u00a0I highly recommend it \u2013 especially if you\u2019re looking for a good size indoor convention that\u2019s not too big or expensive to attend. The people who run it are on top of things, the art show is high quality, the programming is extensive, progressive, \u00a0and diverse, and folks are just so darn nice! (And I\u2019m not just talking about the Canadians trying to lure me away with the temptation of free healthcare and toques!)<\/em> And they also hired this really great band<\/a> to perform at the ball\u2026<\/p>\n

I have to give mad props to Becky Munson for putting together some amazing programming (as well as all of those presenting it), especially for her direct approach for tackling some difficult issues. I noticed it last year (my first year), and this year carried on the same level of integrity and introspection \u2013 with an even smoother schedule\/timetable.<\/p>\n

I believe it\u2019s incredibly important, regardless of what path or tradition we follow, to be aware of concerns and issues facing us as a community. \u00a0Sure, I\u2019m all about playing and having fun \u2013 but the other part of that reality requires us to be aware, proactive, and flexible to change. Otherwise we\u2019re just dressing up and playing pretend.<\/p>\n

To semi-quote a friend, \u201cthere needs to be more to this than tits and fairy wings.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I already had posted here in advance<\/a> of what I offered \u2013 and later gave some insights about cookies<\/a> and authenticity<\/a> afterwards related to what I presented. \u00a0And I hoped that I got some folks both thinking and moving. \u00a0That seems to be 2 things I\u2019m called to do: to get people thinking\/seeing in new ways, and to get other folks out of their heads and into their bodies. #geminiwin
\n\"2017-paganicon2\"
\nIt was also a bit of a fascinating experience for me to be an official \u201cGuest of Honor.\u201d It\u2019s a role I have done for years in the dance community, as a headlining performer and instructor. \u00a0So it\u2019s not that new of a concept, but it is a largely very different group of folks. (Yes, I know there\u2019s plenty of Pagan dancers of varying degrees too, yas yas).<\/em>\u00a0So it was a bit different experience for me this time around. With one more month to go before my book <\/a>is released, I find either people already know who I am from either this blog, my art, dance, etc \u2013 or they have no idea who I am (yet!). \u00a0So there\u2019s an interesting balance between being recognized and being able to be invisible. \u00a0So that could change.<\/p>\n

Or not.<\/em> <\/strong>\u00a0I have had plenty of people in the dance community talk about me directly to my face, without realizing it. Even more fun when they\u2019re holding a copy of one of my instructional DVDs<\/a> or business cards. I suppose you can blame it on the Clark Kent effect when I wear my glasses\u2026but that\u2019s not a common thing at events. \u00a0I do pretty much look like my photos.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that\u2019s mainly some of my processing ramble. \u00a0I had a really wonderful time \u2013 I got to perform with Wendy Rule to her song \u201cBlack Snake\u201d on Friday night \u2013 that was awesome. Then I somehow became the Gatekeeper (Door Master) at Jason Mankey and Dodie\u2019s Dion Fortune Ritual \u2013 which was a fascinating experience. \u00a0(Of course a devotee of Hekate ends up being the person at the doorway.) \u00a0I got to meet some really wonderful people \u2013 the folks from The Priestesses, fellow Patheos Bloggers, Canadians, other artists and writers. \u00a0The live band at the ball was extremely well-received, which makes me happy. \u00a0I was on a morning panel discussing the Underworld and \u201cshadow work.\u201d \u00a0(I may have been the comic relief for that one, I certainly felt like the contrary random factor lol). <\/em><\/p>\n

\"2017-paganicon4\"I talked about my art, a lot. And sold a lot of it at my booth (which is awesome because I like food, and so does Nathan and the cats).<\/em> Oh! And my artwork in the show won \u201cbest representation of theme\u201d \u2013 and I was awarded a ribbon that says \u201cMVP.\u201d \u00a0We decided it meant \u201cMost Valuable Pword.\u201d \u00a0Don\u2019t worry, I won\u2019t let it get to my head.<\/p>\n

But yes, to wrap this post up somewhat on topic, while it may seem contrary for some for a bunch of Pwords to gather at a hotel instead out of the woods\u2026.it really gives us the chance to connect to each other without a lot of other distractions. \u00a0To be able to sit down, listen, experiment, share, and move. \u00a0Though in the end, it doesn\u2019t matter WHERE we do it, as long as we DO it. \u00a0Every voice is important, but you have to show up to make it heard \u2013 and to listen.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few blog posts back, I talked about my lack of confidence in the idea of covens \u2013 in a historical sense. \u00a0But I did express my belief in the convening of witches to come together, share ideas and concepts, gossip, tricks, and the usual \u2013 then everyone went back to their respective corners. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[210,85,83,211,7,4],"class_list":["post-467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-conventions","tag-festival","tag-paganicon","tag-recap","tag-witch","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Importance of Convening<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I believe it's incredibly important, regardless of what path or tradition we follow, to be aware of concerns and issues facing us as a community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/2017\/03\/convening.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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